Published 1:53 am, Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Los Angeles Clippers blew a seven-point lead in the final minute and lost Game 5 to the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-104.

With 11 seconds left, the referees made an inexplicable call on an out-of-bounds play that gave OKC an extra possession and left Doc Rivers enraged in his postgame press conference.

Down 104-102, OKC's Reggie Jackson drove into the lane, made contact with L.A.'s Matt Barnes, and sent the ball flying out of bounds. The ball seemed to clearly go off Jackson, so possession should have been awarded to the Clippers. But the refs ruled that replay was inconclusive and gave possession to the Thunder, who went on to win 105-104.

After the game, Rivers said it was "a bunch of crap" and a "series-defining call" in a remarkable press conference.

"We got robbed," he said.

Here's part of his press conference (full video below):

"In my opinion let's take away replay. Let's take away the replay system. Because that's our ball, we win the game, and we got robbed because of that call. And it's clear. Everybody in the arena saw it. That is why everybody was shocked when they said, 'Oklahoma City.' That was our ball."

(...)

"We made our own mistakes. I mean, we turned the ball over. We did a lot of stuff to lose the game ourselves. But at the end of the day we've a replay system that you are supposed to look at. I don't want to hear that they didn't have that replay. That is a bunch of crap."

The video of Rivers going off:

This is the play that sent him off. It really looks like it goes off Jackson's right hand:

A second angle:

On the ensuing possession, Russell Westbrook was fouled by Chris Paul on a 3-pointer. He made all three free throws, and OKC won 105-104.